Environmental impact management and planning: - Norway

CONCLUSIONSouth Africa has benefited tremendously from thiscooperation. The transparent and consultative processesthat were followed in the drafting of the amendmentsto NEMA, and the drafting of the 2006 EIA regulations,as well as the subsequent amendments, were veryexpensive processes, for which no provision had beenmade in the budget at the time. The original fundingof this law reform programme made it possible for theDEA to follow a thorough consultative process. The factthat there are 10 equal partners that are responsible forthese regulations contribute to the complexity of thetask, because the circumstances differ a lot between thedifferent provinces.Because of its historical isolation, South Africa had noprior exposure to international trends and best practice,and relied only on internal experience in the drafting of itslegislation. The interaction with the NMoE provided valuableinputs and perspectives, and acted as a sounding boardin this process.Valuable guidelines and information brochures wereproduced and printed during this period. The funding wasused for the production of some of these documents. Aseries of 24 information documents and four guidelinedocuments were produced during this period. Thesedocuments are widely used by all sectors involved inenvironmental impact management, from the authoritiesto developers and consultants, non-governmentalorganisations (NGOs) and communities, as well asacademic institutions for the training of students.The NMoE was exposed to the developmental challengesof South Africa and was involved in the evaluation ofmajor infrastructure development projects like the BergWater Dam near Franschhoek, the Coega deep waterharbour, power stations, major roads and pipelines, aninternational airport, several golf estates, as well as resortsin sensitive and protected areas.The DEA and the provinces were exposed to themanagement of sustainable agriculture and tourism ininternationally protected areas, aquaculture projects andpetroleum exploitation, as well as the establishment ofwind energy installations in sensitive environments. TheDEA was also exposed to development at local authoritylevel, including water management, refuse management,planning and tourism development challenges in sensitiveenvironments, the introduction of a new light rail commutersystem and major transport infrastructure projects.This interaction between a first world and developingcountry created a unique opportunity for officials fromboth countries to be exposed to the differences andsimilarities of EIM challenges in different parts of the world.The two countries learned from each other and benefitedfrom one another’s experience and unique situations.For South Africa, in particular, the monetary benefit wascrucially important, and the capacity was direly needed.Topics for possible further cooperation could include thefollowing:• The development of further tools for EIM as part of theEnvironmental Impact Assessment and ManagementStrategy.• Financing specialist studies, workshops and a nationalconference as part of the development of this strategy,and assistance in the implementation of this strategy.• The further development of co-regulation systems toreduce the burden on authorities and to move awayfrom the “command-and-control” scenario to selfregulationfor selected sectors.• The further development and refinement of a feestructure for different authorisations to implementthe “user-pays principle” and to enable authorities todeliver better services through the retention of thesefunds.• The development of an integrated environmentalauthorisation system that can combine EIAauthorisations, waste permits and air quality permits.• Assistance to participate in international agreementsand assist South Africa to play a leading role inthis regard in the Southern African DevelopmentCommunity (SADC) context.Acknowledgement and thanksThe South African Department ofEnvironmental Affairs would like to expressits sincere thanks, also on behalf of itsprovincial counterparts, to the Norwegiangovernment and, in particular, the staff of theNorwegian Ministry of the Environment, forthe support provided during these 10 years ofcooperation. It came at a time when it wasreally needed, and the DEA has made verygood use of it to improve its EIM legislation,regulations, resource materials and capacity.It enabled the DEA to develop and implementsystems and structures that have wide-rangingbenefits for this department, its provincialcolleagues, and the country as a whole.Some of these have been elaborated on inthis publication. Officials of the DEA were alsoexposed to the international arena and lookforward to being able to participate in thatarena, given its unique position in the SADCcontext.21